Picture recording devices in which the storage device is a video cassette holding a magnetic tap wound on a spool are classified under the term "camera recorder" or the abbreviated name "camcorder". For recording and playback, besides the purely electronic signal-processing circuitry, a costly, bulky, and failure-prone tape transport mechanism is necessary for moving the tape at as constant a speed as possible. The power consumption of this mechanism requires a relatively large energy store in the form of one or more batteries if the device is to be independent of a power line over a prolonged period of time. If all necessary functional parts, such as the camera, power supply with batteries and charger, signal-processing circuits, video cassette and tape transport mechanism, etc., are contained in a single housing, the device becomes relatively heavy and unwieldy.
Much handier are "still video cameras", which are equipped with an electronic picture recording device in which a CCD (charge coupled device) chip converts the picture element-by-element into electronic signals which are then stored in a frame of a small magnetic disk instead of the magnetic tape of the camcorder. This device makes it possible to store in the range of 25 individual frames, but also to record a rapid sequence of frames or scenes. However, it suffers from the drawback that the disk does require a drive mechanism. Examples of conventional camcorders and still video cameras are described, for example, in the publication "Funkschau", No. 22, 1986, pages 40 to 42.
Electronic picture recording devices are finding increasing use because the picture and associated sound can be immediately reproduced via a conventional television receiver, and because the electronic storage medium can be erased and reused any number of times, which is impossible with the light-sensitive film commonly used in conventional picture recording devices.
Electronic still cameras under development are described in the article "Electronic Camera", in the British Journal of Photography, No. 19, May 1984, pages 486-487, as published in London. It is proposed that such a camera include an objective lens coupled to a CCD transducer having separate arrays for respective primary colors. An A/D converter converts the CCD signals into digital pulses which are processed then stored in an erasable IC memory having storage sites for a number of individual picture frames. The picture frames can be extracted via a D/A converter for display on a TV screen or passed to a printer for hard copy pictures. However, such an electronic still camera is only adapted to shooting individual still pictures.
Another electronic video apparatus is adapted for decision of the arrival order of contestants in races, such as horse races, bicycle races, auto races, or the like, as disclosed in European Patent Application No. 86/304,610, of Yamaguchi Cinema Corporation, published as Publication No. 0,207,675 on Jan. 7, 1987. This video apparatus is set in a fixed position and a line sensor scans successive image lines as the arriving objects move in front of the line sensor. The line image data is converted via an A/D converter and stored in successive frames in a random access memory (RAM). The image data can be retrieved from memory and converted to television signals for replay in still or scroll modes. However, such a device has limited utility and requires a constant power supply to maintain the image data in RAM.